Publications

31 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Can Amazon Do What Walmart Couldn’t, Stop the 'Wheel of Retailing'?

and mortar big box stores instead. Amazon, unburdened by such real estate, was easily able to mobilize Internet capabilities in order to capture a dominant share of a notoriously inefficient book retailing... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

food company during the pandemic. Wow, what a ride—we are still growing! —Richard Craven (MBA 1987) Back to top “Head Ski Co.” Published in 1967, this case describes the development of the company to its preeminence in high-priced skis,... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

BSE in Canada

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Kevin Allison

A cow was determined to have Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Canada, which closed its beef exports to the United States and 39 other countries. What future action should be taken, and how will country of origin specification and traceability take place in the... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Trade; Food; Globalized Markets and Industries; Health; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

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Profile

Cherian Kurien

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? For me the purpose of an MBA is to develop and refine one's political, economic and social worldview, by debating, listening to View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Retail

November 2011
Article

KFC's Radical Approach to China

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Global companies face a crucial question when they enter emerging markets: how far should they go to localize their offerings? Typically they try to sell core products or services pretty much as they've been sold in Europe or the United States, with headquarters... View Details

Keywords: Food; Food and Beverage Industry; China

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November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

The Roca Brothers: Innovation in Gastronomy

By: Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht and Katherine Connolly Baden

Chef Joan Roca, sommelier Josep Roca and pastry chef Jordi Roca were three brothers based in Girona, Spain whose complementary skills, collective ability, and relentless drive for innovation had brought worldwide fame and awards to their restaurant, El Celler de Can... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; COVID-19 Pandemic; Food; Crisis Management; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; Spain

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Siba Mtongana: A Pioneering Chef in South Africa

By: Boris Groysberg, Susan Seligson, Katherine Connolly Baden and Robin Abrahams

For Siba Mtongana, South African celebrity chef, the year 2020 was fraught with challenges and unknowns. Her brand was strong and she was certain it would survive. But as she fine-tuned her growth and innovation strategy in a shaky, unpredictable economy in the midst... View Details

Keywords: Food; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; South Africa

25 Feb 2020
News

Task Force

Monroy can make that claim. Based in Mexico City, Zubale crowdsources the expensive and inefficient task of merchandising, using its app to connect independent contractors with major brands looking for the on-the-ground help needed to get... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; gig economy; Retail Trade

September 2024
Supplement

Red Hen Baking Company (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: This (B) case supplement is designed for use by faculty only to support classroom instruction in conjunction with "Red... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Buildings and Facilities; Finance; Food; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Vermont

March 2017
Case

Breakfast at the Paramount

By: Ryan W. Buell

The Paramount is a 44-seat diner on Charles Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. A frequent "Best of Boston" award winner, the restaurant is a perennial favorite among locals and tourists, particularly for brunch on the weekends, when lines often stretch... View Details

Keywords: Food; Management Practices and Processes; Service Delivery; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

25 Feb 2020
News

In My Humble Opinion: Mr. Coffee

prides itself on a handcrafted approach to coffee beverages that highlight natural flavors. Before coming to HBS, Keller served four years in the Navy; he cites teamwork as one of the greatest attractions of the work he did then View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

June 1999
Case

Furr's/Bishop's, Inc. (C)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Keywords: Food; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Carme Ruscalleda: The Chef as an Artist

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Annelena Lobb

In October 2018, Chef Carme Ruscalleda, the most-starred woman chef in the world at the time, closed the doors of her Restaurant Sant Pau (Sant Pau), as she had on almost every night for the past 30 years—this time for the last time. Ruscalleda had opened the... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Sant Pau; Personal Development and Career; Family Business; Leadership Style; Innovation and Invention; Food; Success; Food and Beverage Industry

Other Article

The Market That Wasn't: The Non-emergence of the Online Grocery Category

By: Chad Navis, Greg Fisher, Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn

We examine the non-emergence of a potential new market category. In the late 1990s the entrepreneurial firms that attempted to sell groceries online attracted significant resources, made meaningful technological advancements and generated immense publicity, yet online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Food; Emerging Markets; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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01 Sep 2017
News

A Jolt for the African Coffee Industry

costs, Dozie notes that “two years ago it was cheaper to put a store in London than on Victoria Island in Lagos.” That has led Café Neo to prioritize co-locations in offices: Counters inside businesses such as banks View Details

Keywords: Sasha Issenberg; cafe; Cafe Neo; Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

June 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Equifruit

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Annelena Lobb

Jennie Coleman, president of Fairtrade banana company Equifruit, considered how best to position her firm and brand to increase sales of Fairtrade bananas in the U.S. and Canada. She saw her biggest challenge as convincing retailers that consumers would be OK spending... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Sales; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Ecuador; Guatemala; Canada; United States

29 Aug 2023
News

Helping Consumers Decarbonize their Purchases

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. In this episode, we’re going to be highlighting an episode of another HBS podcast: Climate Rising, which focuses on what businesses are doing, can do, and should do... View Details

April 2018
Supplement

Breakfast at the Paramount

By: Ryan W. Buell

The Paramount is a 44-seat diner on Charles Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. A frequent "Best of Boston" award winner, the restaurant is a perennial favorite among locals and tourists, particularly for brunch on the weekends, when lines often stretch... View Details

Keywords: Food; Management Practices and Processes; Service Delivery; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston